Burning A Light Inside
by Arden Skysender
Summary: She was thought lost to them. Without them, she had fallen in to darkness, and despair.It was time she learnt the meaning of her dance. And in doing so, relieve both their pain. ErestorOFC, ALSO: Glorfindel, Elrond Haldir and others
1. Turn Away

**Burning a light inside, take everything away**

**I'm back baby! With a new story that will whoop the pants off my old ones. A bit darker\. No such thing as the grey Havens in this story. It was sort of a scam. The elves went so deep into an ancient forrest that none could ever hope to find them.You'll see what I mean as the story goes on. This story does not have any kind of continuation from my old ones either. Time for something new. **

Her soul screamed, so loudly, she was sure that others must be able to hear it. But they never did. She drew the blade across her flesh, watching the red line grow further and further down her wrist, and with it, crimson flowering across, to flow down her arm, across the bruises that lay beneath the white flesh. The hunger was getting larger each time, the need for her to draw more of her blood. The wound was parallel to a network of others, identical lines upon her wrist, and more on her other wrist. Never enough to kill, no, she didn't deserve that simple pleasure, but always enough to take the pressure away, as though she simply had too much inside of her, and she had to let some of it out. Someone knocked on the door to the bathroom of the tavern.

"Alimra! Get out here and dance!" came the growl of the tenant of the inn where she danced for money for the medical care her mother needed. She had danced here every night for the last six years of her life, had been beaten and grabbed by customers, abused and raped after the inn had closed for the night, and though for her mother it was justified, she felt her depression grow a little more each day. Her mother would wish to die should she know what she did to keep her well, for the pain killing herb she needed to ease her pain was expensive. She was not beautiful, but her white hair made her unusual. And rarities were novelties in her line of work. She clipped her metal brace over her wound and locked it in place, the gauze veils covering little of her body, but the metal filigree wrist cuffs covered the scars. She took a deep breathe, before going back in to the tavern, and dancing, avoiding the grabbing hands of the grimy men around her. From the back of the tavern, one watched her silently, from beneath a blackened hood.

&(&

She was thin, too thin, with long hair the colour of ash, the white of a puff of cloud. And her eyes as she danced were haunted, violet shards of glass that, as they slid around the room, seemed to shred his soul with a glance at the pain in their depths. She was unique, and the men who clamored around her, pawing at her, loved it. She was not beautiful. But no creature should have to resort to her form of employment. If that's what it could be called. The stranger could not take looking at her one instant longer, and got up, leaving the tavern. He had intervened in situations like this before, and for a mission that required his identity to remain secret, it never did to draw attention to himself in such a way. Thought gone from these shores, as was all his kind, he moved through Middle Earth rapidly, and with the highest secretiveness on his way back to his home. He had led a long life, and now, after an eternity of being sought for one piece of wisdom or another, the eldar were tired of the vulgarity and lewdness of men. They had gone so deep in to the forests that none had ever seen nor heard from the eldar again, save for the occasional disregarded whisper of a maid in a tavern, who had seen a golden lord dressing on her way to bring him fresh towels, or a whisper of a glowing being in the waters of the Nimrodel. He had traveled for days on end, returning from what had been Mirkwood, to his home in Caer Loera with the last of his peoples ancient knowledge. And now, when he was so close to his destination, at a tavern on the outskirts of the forest, he felt his heart, which had been as stone for more centuries than he could count, feeling loyalty, pride, cold calculation and anger, but little else, begin to beat again.

$&$&

She watched the hooded stranger leave, and with nary a second thought passing her mind, continued to dance. Once an expression of joy that even then, weighed heavily upon her, dancing had now become vulgar and dirty to her, and she took no happiness in her turns anymore, and the darkness that came after the dancing had nothing to stay it. She used to love to read too. The tales from the many books she had at home used to fill her head with nonsense, but she welcomed it from the world outside. She prepared to leave for the night. After securing her cloak tightly around her shivering frame, she made her way to her home, in the oppressive darkness. Normally she found sanctuary in the dark, but not this night. She heard foot steps follow behind her, and she quickened her pace. She saw her home on the rise, and ran faster still, her flimsy sandals, so thin she could feel the cold of the ground beneath them, near snapping at the pressure. She threw the door open, slamming it closed behind her. Often she had been followed home. She went to her mothers rooms, desperate to see her and speak to her, something that soothed her after her trying nights. She went in, to find her mother gasping for breathe.

"Mamma, do not struggle. Just relax. I will get some of the herbs for you." She went to the pot on the sill, and was dismayed to find only a few fragments left. She would have to buy more, and she had little money. She heard a voice.

"No my daughter. Come here." She looked around, and approached the bed, her mothers eyes clear for the first time in years. "Mamma?"

"You must not worry yourself so. I will be gone soon. I want not this pain from you."

Alimra shook her head in dismay. Tears filled her eyes. "Mamma, no."

"My darling, you will find your way. It is time to leave me. Let me go Love. Search out your father. He will help you. He lived within the depths of Rivendell, but has since left for another home, the final resting place for the eldar, away from mens eyes. Few know of it. Even fewer have seen it. Find it. He will know you once you speak my name."

Alimra looked on in horror, as she saw her mothers eyes begin to empty of their light.

"Mamma, no! you cannot leave me! Who is he? Why is he not here? Why did he leave you? Why do you leave me? Mamma? Mamma!"

And as the last breathe left her mothers body, the door flew open, and she heard heavy footfall downstairs. Having no time to grieve, she threw herself to the floor, and over to the window, tears streaming down her face, instincts taking the place of any feeling or thought, there was only action and reaction. The steps came closer, as she dropped from the window, twisting her ankle on the harsh ground as she rolled with her fall. She looked up, and saw a dark figure silhouetted at the window. She ran, her sandals snapping off her feet, and her feet cut and grazed on the harsh surfaces. She ran on, oblivious to any pain but the one tearing at her mind, her heart dying with her mother.

She heard the footsteps grow ever closer, and she ran deeper in to the forest, hesitating but once. Branches were too high to offer her any sanctuary above the ground, and she thought she felt eyes watching her progress over the uneven ground. It was her hair that gave her away, leaving a white beacon to any who followed. She ran so deep in to the forest that she knew not which way she had come, nor which way she was going. When she felt she would collapse with exhaustion, she felt a hand grasp her shoulder roughly, and wrench her around, vile stench radiating to near choke her, and the hand that grasped her shoulder slid to pull her closer to the man that had followed her home from the tavern. She tried to push him away, but she felt any strength she had left fading, as she felt a small runnel of blood flow down her hand, her wound open and bleeding underneath the wrist cuff she still wore. His thick tongue shoved its way clumsily in to hers, until she wretched. His hands grabbed at one of her scantily covered breasts, before one left to untie his trousers.

She felt an eerie calm settle over her, as though acknowledging her fate, and she prayed for the end to be swift. She felt his full weight push her down, and then she felt no more.

&(&

She awoke slowly, a light so bright that it threatened to burn her eyes forcing her to cover her eyes. Looking around in wonder, she thought that she must be dead, and she felt her body warily, to find that she no longer wore her dancing garment, but for the wrist cuffs, and a long white robe covered her. Her eyes slowly grew accustomed to the light, and she reached for the key around her neck to undo the cuffs, which had stuck to parts of her wrists with dried blood, when she saw the door open. She threw herself across the room, until she was huddled in the corner, her back as stiff as a rod, her chin high, her eyes hardened, not betraying any semblance of emotion. Parts of her hair had dried blood clinging to it, and it's whiteness looked grey and lifeless compared to the light filtering through the window. The door opened wider, to reveal a figure….


	2. Living a Lie is Hard Enough

A dark haired elf walked over to her slowly, and she pressed her back to the wall. What looked suspiciously like a pointed ear was framed by long dark hair, and an angular face, with well defined features. His eyes were filled with compassion, and he slowly reached his hand out to her.

"My lady, welcome to Caer Loera, the final home of the eldar. I will not hurt you. I am Elrond Halfelven, and it does you no good to be standing, you have been very unwell."

She looked from his hand to his eyes, before speaking quietly, "why am I here?"

He dropped his hand, before taking a seat upon the bed. There was something vaguely familiar about this young woman.

"We were hoping you could tell us. Only those with eldar blood can pass the borders in to Caer Loera. Your assailant was peppered with arrows. You were rescued by one of our kind on their way home."

She tried to absorb all that she had been told.

"Then why was I not also slain?"

"The answer is in the question. You have elven blood."

"But…I can't! I was to find my father. My mother died with this request upon her lips."

Elrond nodded. "Then it is without doubt the source of your eldar heritage. You may find him here." He helped her up, and she walked over to the window, placing her back to him.

"I am in pain Lord Elrond. I did not wish to be saved. I had accepted my death."

"You may think this way now, but you will see that you were spared for a reason. Do not throw away this second chance." He reached for her wrists. "I have been caring for you, but could not remove these until you awoke. They cannot be comfortable. I have reason to believe that you are injured beneath them. I found blood trailing from one of them. They should be removed"

She clutched her wrist to her. "they will stay were they are!" she commanded, this place new and unfamiliar to her, and it scared her. And these beings could not be allowed to see her scars. No one could. It was her own personal pain. Her weakness. Determined to change the subject, she looked up at him.

"you never should have saved me, I died!"

"You did not die, and it was not I who saved you. Your elven blood kept you alive once you were in the borders of our people."

"No."

"You have eldar blood arwenamin, and you will have to come to terms with that in your own time. You were supposed to find this place, and you were meant to be saved."

"And I suppose I was supposed to be raped over the course of the last six years, and abused as well? Was that a part of my destiny too?" she spat, her voice dangerously quiet.

"It is not my place to question the Valar, but yours has been a hard lot in life. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need, or until you find what you are looking for. You will not be turned away from the home of your people." he got up to leave. She called after him, the loudest her voice had been since he had entered.

"One more thing. Who was my savior?"

"Erestor, the keeper of the scrolls and knowledge of Caer Loera. If you should wish to thank him, he is in the library."

"So." she whispered, as he left. "He was the one who kept me from my death."

&&&

As the days wore on, she met a seemingly endless litany of eldar royalty. An elleth and her silver lord, who haunted her thoughts until she closed her mind off from them and her probing thoughts. A fiercely regal golden king, who had spoken little, but to inquire after her well being before leaving his son, who spoke to her gently, trying to get her to talk about what had happened to her. A fiery and arrogant Captain, who had tried to take what information he could from her about the tavern that inhabited the border to the woods, all the while his eyes roaming her body, before coming to rest upon the white scar that one wrist cuff revealed. When he questioned her about it, she ordered him from the room, and he left, a look of pure shock upon his face.

**(A/N ; Sorry couldn't help myself: That's right. Haldir is alive. As if he died at Helms Deep. HALDIR LIVES!)**

And finally, a white wizard, who she never made eye contact with, for fear he could see behind her eyes in to her tortured soul. Her pain she nursed in silence, awaiting an opportunity to finish a job a stranger started. But to her frustration, she was never for a moment left alone. Often, a golden haired warrior came to speak to her, and he told her a tale of a mysterious demon, and his defeat, at the cost of his own life, but he too was given a second chance at life. His counsel fell upon deaf ears. She had heard the story before, her mother had told her the story of the brave elf who had fought a mighty Balrog many times. She thought it naught but a tale even now. She told none her name. She searched the room for anything she could use to end this nameless faceless existence, but found nothing. Never alone, even at night, no opportunities presented themselves. On the rare occasion she would sleep, she would occasionally wake to see a strangers face watching over her, reading from his place at her bed side. But she always feel asleep again too quickly to find out who this stranger was. She barely ate, and after a week, she had grown even thinner than when she had first arrived. Slowly, she was wasting away in to death, fading from sight. And the eldar around her recognized this, and tried to call her back.

&&9

"Walk with me in the gardens, lady." She looked up to see the golden haired Lord who offered her council often about his second chance. Glorfindel, he had said his name was. She sighed, and turned away from his prying gaze, before answering softly, Ï do not wish to leave my room, lord. Please. Leave me in peace."

"Nay." He said, coming around to face her. "you have been left 'in peace' for too long now. It is time to rejoin the world arwenamin."

"What if I do not wish to?" she said, looking up at him, a little of her torment showing through her faceless mask. He helped her in rising from the bed. She was barely strong enough to stand unaided. He led her from the room, the first time she had ever left it, in to the beauty that was Caer Loera. Even in her near death state, the beauty did not go unnoticed by her. It was almost enough to make her want to dance again, for herself if no one else, and to breathe freely once again. How she had loved to dance, before… She turned away, her face fixed firmly on the floor. She tensed at Glorfindels hands upon her, but she did not move away. She could not. She would fall. He continued to lead her through the halls. A figure exited a door ahead, and Glorfindel called out to him.

"My friend! Come and join us. I was showing our small one around Caer Loera." The dark haired ellon frowned.

"She should not be out of bed Glorfindel. She is swaying on her feet. Bring her in to the library. Let her sit down."

Glorfindel led her in to the door that the ellon had just vacated. The dark elf followed them in. She looked around her at all the books and scrolls, that covered every inch in the large room, the wisdom of three kingdoms, of thousands of ages, filling the room. The very air welcomed her, as though the tomes whispered to her.

"Can you read my lady?" the question shook her out of her reverie. She nodded her head slowly, before turning to look at the dark elf that had spoken. There was something vaguely familiar about him. She focused upon his angular features, trying to recall where she had seen him before.

"You are welcome to stay here if you would like to, for the afternoon my lady." Glorfindel said. The dark elf frowned again, but said nothing, leading the golden lord away.

"Glorfindel, I have much work to do. I was leaving only to seek sustenance before I continued. And she is not strong enough to even lift a tome, let alone read one."

Glorfindel led him further away. "Erestor, old friend, look at her. It is not weakness that keeps her so wan. She is fading, what little light she had leaving her. Elrond has insisted that we try and rekindle her will to live. We must find a way to waken her from her repose. There is much that Elrond hopes to learn from her. This was a final attempt to awaken her to herself."

Erestor looked over to the maid, who, for the first time he could recall, since the tavern when he had watched her dance, had some light in her eyes, her hands, still bound at the wrists with their metal cuffs, reaching for a small book beside her. He approached her, picking up the small red book, handing it to her.

"You can stay here as long as you need." He said gruffly, before returning to his work.


	3. I Had a Dream That Could Never Come True

**A/N:Thank You Lady Anck-su-Naman for your review, it's great to hear from you again! **

**now, would you like to meet some other people?**

She returned to the library every day, the books filling her with tales of the ages and her peoples knowledge, restoring a little of her hope, as did her silent companion, who at times, seemed just as tortured as she was. She had not learnt his name, but as she did not offer hers, she did not see any thing wrong with this. In small amounts, she began to eat a little. Enough to keep her upright enough to read the tomes. She felt a familiar ache settle over her body once more, as her strength gradually returned each morning. To be outside, and dance, to lose herself in the labyrinth of wonder and ecstasy she found within the turns of her dance. But she did not give into this urge.

The darkness that followed after each dance was too great for her to shoulder again. She was no longer fading, but she was far from living her life again. Her wrist guards stayed on, covering new wounds, made almost daily with the shards of a mirror that had broken on her second day here, but the wounds began to get smaller, and shallower, for she no longer felt the need to draw such quantities of her own blood. Slowly, she was beginning to fit back inside her own skin.

It was the dark elf in the corner that finally suggested she return outside, with Glorfindel waiting to escort her. He was gentle, and softly spoken, and his silence made her comfortable in much the same way that Glorfindels goodness did. But there was something distinctly different about the comforts both seemed to offer.

"It is time you went outside again, arwenamin. The sun will do you the world of good."

She looked up to see him standing with Glorfindel. Having not the will to argue as she once would have,

she reluctantly put down the book she had been reading, before rising. She slowly made her way over to the door with Glorfindel. He led her into the gardens, that she had once looked upon in a brief semblance of joy, before allowing her to fit at a bench near a tree. She jerked her head up in shock at the sound of laughter filtering from a nearby bush, before two figures tumbled out, dusting themselves off.

Glorfindel just shook his head. The mass move of all elves here had meant that Elladan, Elrohir, Rumil, Orophin and Legolas had all the maidens of three kingdoms to woo, and they had lost no time in beginning. It was Rumil who was pulling sprigs of greenery from his hair, and the elleth who accompanied him, which was none other than…Glorfindels eyes widened. His own daughter! His face turned a slight red, before he stalked over to the two of them, leaving Alimra on the bench.

"Ellon! Unhand my daughter before I cut them off!" he growled, his daughter Isara smiling at him.

"Father, Rumil has been courting me for the last year and a half. Did mother not tell you?" she said, as Rumil wrapped his arms around her, but only to quickly return his arms to his sides at the glare that Glorfindel sent his way.

"I have only the most honorable intentions towards your daughter Lord!" he declared, standing tall.

"Which is why you saw fit to defile her in a public garden, in front of any who might pass! She is but a hundred and twenty nine years old! A child! " he growled, advancing on the helpless looking Rumil.

"Adar! Stop it!" Isara said, coming to stand in between the two ellons. " You know that the eldar mature more rapidly in Caer Loera, due to the ancient magic concentrated here! I have been the physical and mental equivalent 'of age' since my eightieth year. We are to be bound!"

Glorfindel stood in shock, before raising his hand to his forehead, pinching the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Rumil, I am a generous elf….I shall give you a count of ten to escape before I prevent you from ever having children."

Alimra watched this scene unfolding with amusement, and felt a strange feeling bubbling up inside her.

Isara just shook her head, and pulled Rumil back, who had been about to run. "Father! I am not joking. Stop scaring Rumil. Do you have any idea how long I have waited for him?"

"Not half as long as it will take me to cut off his…"

"Ädar!"

Glorfindel just shook his head, a defeated ellon. His beloved daughter was to be bound. "Rumil, if you should even glace at another elleth, you will wish you had run on this day, you understand me?"

Rumil nodded emphatically, placing his arm around Isara's shoulder protectively. "Believe me, my lord, I would never let her go now I have found her."

Glorfindel just shook his head. He needed a drink. And to talk to his wife… "Go. And I hope that next time you choose to defile my daughter, I will be at least be far enough away to be blissfully ignorant."

The two left, giggling, and he turned back, and upon seeing Alimra, quickly made his way back over.

"My lady, I apologize for…." He was abruptly cut off, as he realized that she was fighting a smile. And then he smiled himself. Her smile was contagious, but shaky, as though she were unsure of how to smile after so long.

"She is my daughter from an old match, a hundred and thirty years ago. Her mother and I were to be wed, but she fell before we could. I do not think we were _in_ love, but we did love each other. She is my only daughter."

Alimra nodded, before rising on her own, and began to wander around the garden.

Glorfindel shook his head to himself. Bless Erestor. Some time in the gardens, amongst the people was what she needed after all. He led her back to her rooms, were he left her for the night, and she slept soundly for the night, for the first time in six years. Erestor looked over at her from his post beside her bed in the dead of night, and almost allowed a small smile to slip past his lips.


	4. The World is Threatening

&(&&(78

That day in the garden became a turning point for her. When she awoke the next morning, Glorfindel was beside her once more, and he offered to take her into the gardens again. She went almost willingly. As they walked the corridors, she said quietly, almost hesitantly, "My name is Alimra."

Glorfindel smiled at her, before he began to tell her of his family, of his wife and his daughter and his two sons. She listened with the first interest she had shown in anything but books since arriving here. But she never forgot who she was, nor where she came from. The metal wrist guards around her arms sought to remind her wherever she went. She never removed them around another, they had remained firmly in place, protecting the scars and cuts from outward eyes. If any one had seen the blood stained rag she had used to clean it with, no one had said anything to her.

But the maid who found the cloth did speak to Lord Elrond. He pondered over it late at night in his study, wondering what lay beneath the wrist guards, and why she would not remove them. She was injured in some way, and yet she seemed determined to not allow herself to heal. However, the ceaseless watching of her every minute had to stop. She was improving, and this sentry duty was beginning to impede her recovery, not help.

&(&&

Erestor had allowed his mind to wander from his work. He had been working solidly for the last week, and the maiden from outside the forests did not know who he was, nor did he know anything more about her than what he had absorbed, and her name, which Glorfindel had confided in him. Now that he no longer watched over her like a silent guardian each night, he found that his work was the only thing to keep loneliness from consuming him once more. He felt the old longing for his love of decades ago return. The quests to regain the lost knowledge of the eldar Elrond could no longer send him on, as all had been recovered. Now, once more, he was bound in Caer Loera, with naught but his books for company, and he felt some of his old loneliness return. He stretched out his aching muscles, he needed to get out, and to leave his work, even for a few hours. He took his flute from a drawer in his desk, and rose it to his lips, and began to softly play a haunting melody.

&&7

Still she longed to dance again. But still, she denied herself this. The fear of the darkness that followed was still too great. And besides. She had no music. She lay unsleeping this night, reluctant to allow her eyes to close, when something called to her. A light rekindled inside of her. A haunting tune floated down the hall, curling its way throughout her very limbs, making her finger twitch, and her rise from the bed, as though the music itself carried her along. Forgetting all fears, she went out into the gardens, were the music was clearest, into a dark alcove, trees blocking her from passing eyes. She followed the music to it's source, and stopped outside beneath the open window to the library. Who could be playing? She closed her eyes, allowing the music to wrap its way around her, until she felt herself lift an arm, then another, and her body started to turn. She could not stop herself. She spun, her arms high above her head, her feet never leaving an indentation across the grass as she danced beneath the window, her eyes never once opening, her dance imprinted upon her heart, showing her the way. She knew not the song that was spinning through her very soul, but it was the first she had heard in the longest of times, and it called to her, as though a kindred sole understood at long last what it was she needed. She lost herself within it.

&&(7

Erestor had lost himself within his playing, but was brought back to reality when he saw a flash of white beneath his window. Still playing, he crossed to the window, where the apparition he saw beneath him took his breath away. Beneath the window, a white haired vision spun in time to his music, dancing with not feet or hands, but with soul. He saw something in the figure dancing, something familiar, something akin to his own pain that called to him. He played on, eager to see her dance on. There was something else about this figure that was familiar. It was then realization struck him, enough to make him lower the flute from his lips, and stare. There. A slight similarity to the…it couldn't be! The elleth looked up at the window in shock, as though she was unaware of how she had even gotten there. She ran upon seeing a figure at the window. And Erestor knew then who it had been underneath his window. Alimra.

&&&

She returned to her room, as quickly as possible, fighting her racing heart. Someone had seen her dancing! And worse, she had let herself give in to the primal urges for movement that even now coursed through her body. And worse still, she could feel the creeping darkness that ensued her lonely dance creep around her. She felt too full, as though the quantity of fear and anger in herself would split her apart. She removed the shard of mirror from beneath her mattress, and tears leaking from her eyes, removed her wrist guard, pulling the jagged shard of mirror across her wrist, in a wound deeper and longer than any of the previous had been. As the blood blossomed across her scarred wrist, she realized that no matter how she tried, she could no longer deny the urge to dance that raced through her. She could not suppress that desire. And this realization, and the future consequences, she knew would cost her dearly. In blood.

&&(&

Erestor sat in is chair before the window, and thought long into the night. His work remained untouched upon his desk. His thoughts were spinning through his head. Alimra had danced, not the amorous gyrating of the tavern, but an expression of rhythm and movement that had been enough to bring a tear to his very eye. He had not thought of her as beautiful, but when she danced… He forgot all about any feelings he may have had for his old love, the pining that had consumed him for near thirty years, blocking out any feelings he may have had for any others. He decided not to confront her, as she had ran when she had seen his silhouette at the window. He wondered, that if he played again, would she return…

&&7

She did not leave her room the next day. And Glorfindel did not push her. Elrond had summoned him to his study to talk on a dire matter, he had said, and so he left the door closed with a sigh. Maybe some time alone would do her good.

**A/N: thanks to Lady Anck-su-namun. I know. Stuffy elves. Always . about time they weren't. so I thought I'd do something about it, personally.lol. anyway, I know there's more of you out there. Please, tell me what you think?**


	5. Just to Complement Your Sorrow

&(&(&(

That night, he stood in the garden, the flute in his hand, and once more, he raised it to his lips and began to play. In earnest he played, and after a while, forgetting to look for his vision, losing himself in the song. But then, through the trees, a white gleam showed deep in the centre of the gardens, in a darkened clearing surrounded by trees, enough so as to shield her from most prying eyes. But not Erestors. Never him, whose purposeful gaze sought her form. He crept slowly closer, his flute never leaving his lips. He played on, and he watched her lift one arm, then another, then, at the crescendo of his song, she exploded in to a flurry of movement and dance, that made her body bend and beckon as though she were made of nothing more than the air itself. She flowed across the ground, and Erestors song danced through the air, and the two combined in an expression of harmony and purity that was as potent and intoxicating as the very act of love itself. Unseen by Erestor, who had eyes only for the vision in front of him, a golden figure sat beside him on the bench, and began to pluck a harp, its golden tones melding with the harps silvery notes to add a deeper melody to the tune. And still, she danced, and still, he played. Glorfindel too, unwilling to break the spell, had heard the music from his rooms, and had risen to see Erestor playing in the gardens, and went to join him. Upon arriving, he had seen what it was that so held his friend transfixed. He too, was left breathless by the expression of beauty that danced within the trees before him. And so he had played.

All over Caer Loera, elves sat upon their balconies, and sighed at the gentle melody that filtered through their rooms. It seemed to fill the whole world with it's light, it's longing, and as lovers sighed into each others arms, and watched the starlit sky from these balconies, they knew the identity of the Lords who played. One gold, and one silver, who had rarely picked up their instruments since 'leaving' Middle Earth.

&(&&6

Though he heard the song, Elrond had far more pressing matters on his mind. And they were simply this. Once more, had a blood stained rag been found in Alimra's room, and one of the maids had whispered as to seeing Alimra with a cuff off as she bathed, and had told of a maze of scars and wounds that decorated that wrist. Elrond knew that something must be done about it, but he was at a loss as to what. Self mutilation was not heard of amongst the eldar, so it was a mystery to him as to how to treat it. But one thing he knew. To confront her about it could only make a situation as this one turn worse. He had spoken of his fears to Glorfindel that day, and knew he must include Erestor too in this secret. Between them, the three would no doubt think of something. He hoped.

8&(&&

She returned to her room that night in a daze. There had been more than a flute that night. A harp, whose golden tones had added to the flutes lonely melody. She took up her shard of mirror, and removed her wrist guards. She drew it across her flesh, once, twice, three times, before the mirror fell from her fingers, and she fell back against the door, her head spinning. Unable to think through the clouds that spun through her mind, let alone move to place the wrist guard back on, she felt herself be swallowed by a blackened haze, her muscles still humming from her dance, the melody still playing in her head.

**A/N: Iknow. A short short chapter, but still quite a poignant moment I thought. Let me know what you think all, and thank for your feedback! A cliffhanger! What will happen (I wonder, obvious much? Alright. She dies, and Erestor, Elrond and Glorfindel have a slash fest. Kidding. That just seems to be how all these stories turn out. lol. **


	6. A Gift to Add to Your Pain and Suffering

&(&(

Erestor could take it no longer. Long after the flute was lowered from his lips, and Glorfindel had taken him back to his rooms, he mused about Alimra. It did not sit well with him, watching her from the shadows, when she did not even know who he was. She knew him as the gentle soul who haunted the library, not Erestor, the keeper of the tomes. He, who had saved her life over a fortnight ago. And he knew she would hate him had he told her that a week ago. Maybe now she would see reason. He took himself towards the door, and down the hall. His eyes saw none of the corridor that he walked down, for they were clouded with a white haired dancer.

He turned into the corridor to where she slept, and was brought sharply out of his reverie by a smear of crimson trickling beneath one of the doors. Her door…Her blood. He ran to the door, and threw his weight against it, determined to see if she was alright. The door splintered, then flew open, and he was brought up in shock at the sight that met him. Alimra lay at his feet, her white hair stained red with blood, which flowed freely from three thick gashes on her wrist. The wrist guard gone, he could see that her arms were a network of scars and newly healed wounds. He knelt beside her, taking her sluggishly bleeding wrist between his hands, and staunching the blood flow with his own robes. Her skin was as white as her hair.

"Älimra!"he roared, trying to awake her. "Alimra! Open your eyes. You must wake!" she lay as though in death, her breathe shallow and her flesh clammy. He looked around for someone, anyone, and saw Glorfindel sleepily stick his head around the door, Erestor's cries having awoken him. He quickly snapped awake at the sight that met him, and he ran to fetch Elrond. Erestor cradled her in his arms, holding the wad of his robes firmly over her wounds. Elrond entered then, kneeling beside her, opposite to Erestor.

"Show me my friend. What has happened?" and then even Glorfindel, who had seen many a wound in his long life time as a warrior paled at the sight of the three gashes on her wrist, and the network of scars that surrounded it. Elrond, his mouth set in a firm line, did what he could.

&&(&97

**A/N:I know, a really short chapter again, but I was just so happy to see reviews that I had to give you this. I oculdn't wait any longer! Thankyou all who reviewed. Crecy, great to hear from you again! Anck-su-Naman. Slashfest. Why is it that nearly all stotries with Erestor and Glorfindel end up that way? I got sick of it.lol. and thanks fopr your feedback about the phrasing. I knew it was an intense chapter, iwasn't sure how it would be taken. I'm glad it ended up working.**

**And Shary, thanks for your feedback. I know. Haldir should definitely not be dead on screen. HE LIVES! enjoy**


	7. All the Cries Your Beginning to Hear

**A/N:Get Ready For another surprise!**

She opened her eyes. Sunlight poured in from the window, and silhouetted against it, she could see three figures talking. She struggled to sit up, and saw a thick bandage obscuring most of her forearm. She looked to her other arm, and saw that her wrist guard had been removed from this wrist too, and her half healed cuts had been cleaned and bound also. It was then that the three noticed she was awake, and turned to face her. She looked Elrond and Glorfindel steadily in the eye, but avoided Erestor's gaze. They made their way over to the bed. Elrond sat down upon it, whereas the other two stood beside him. They didn't say anything for a long time. It was she who broke the silence. "It was you, wasn't it?" she said to Erestor, fitting the pieces together for the first time. "Ÿou saved me. You watched over me at night. And you let it go unsaid all this time, when you knew…you knew."

Erestor met her gaze squarely. "Yes. I knew. And if I had not been on my way to tell you the truth last night, you would be in Mandos's halls this morning."

"Then you shouldn't have bothered."

"Why, Alimra, why would you do this to yourself! You were improving. You were living again!"

She looked up at him, and for the first time, her proud mask began to slip.

"Because it helps. You know all about helping, don't you Erestor? You're good at that. You know all about rescuing someone. Well I needed rescuing a long time ago, but I never was. I needed rescuing then. I don't now. What I needed and what I need now, are two very different things. So in answer to your question, it rescues me. When I need it to save me. It's reliable."

Elrond took her bound wrist in his hands. She tried to pull it away, but he held on to it. "You cannot live this way Alimra."

"That's the beauty of it, Lord, that's the point"

"Why will you not let us help you? Why must you resort to this…this…butchery?" asked Glorfindel sadly.

"It staves off death a day longer, whilst bringing it closer. It staves madness for another heartbeat. It is the one thing that is as reliable and as inevitable as the pain I suffer daily. Dancing used to be my release. But not now. It is but another weakness. And I was dealing with it just fine before you decided to help."

"We can help you stop this. It cannot possibly make you happy." Elrond said, compassion making him weep inside for this girl, who had been through so much, and who thought she had so very little to go on for.

"It fights the battles."

"But it will not win the war, Alimra. Let us end this struggle. Let us help you. Do you want to be happy?" Erestor said, his voice growing softer and softer.

Alimra looked up at Erestor, and for the first time, it occurred to her that maybe there could be something to go on for. She shoved that thought out of her mind quickly. The music. That was all. His music. Nothing else.

"Do you?" Glorfindel repeated.

"Yes." she whispered, unable to look them in the eye.

"Then tell us why you drive yourself to such lengths to end it," whispered Erestor softly, sensing a pain within this elleth akin to his own. "trust us. Trust me."

And then, her voice wavering, she told them her story. She unloaded the burdens that she had been forced to bear alone for the last six years. And they listened. They didn't try to interrupt her, or judge her, they sat and listened, and tears ran from her face, and Erestor, Elrond and Glorfindel felt tears fill their own eyes at the hidden depths to her pain. She had been through more than they had ever guessed.

"The first time, it was an accident. It was a shard of glass from a broken bottle from the bar, and it was the night after I first started at the tavern. That night, my innocence was taken by the innkeeper, and in exchange, he gave me some coin to buy the herb my mother needed. It was just enough. But as the glass cut my hand, it felt as though all the disgrace and horror and disgust I felt at myself for what had happened to me melted away, trickling out of my veins along with my blood. That was where I began."

She went on, telling them all.

"And finally, she died in my arms, after begging me to come here and find my father. She said to speak her name, and that he would know me."

Elrond looked at the other two, before Erestor said, "and what was her name?"

"Celebrían"

&(&(&7

Elrond paled at the mention of his wife's name. Glorfindel reddened. Erestor tensed, before saying: "but it cannot be your wife Celebrían Elrond! For she has resided with us here since her breaking a the hands of the orcs! I saw her just this morning. She is not dead, and she cannot die!" Elrond sat heavily upon the bed. "Not my wife…but my daughter." Glorfindel remained silent. Elrond shot him a glare. "Glorfindel, I think you had best explain the true reason behind my youngest daughters mysterious departure from Imladris all those years ago. Nearly twenty nine to the day."

Glorfindel looked at Alimra in wonder, reaching a hand out to her to stroke some of her white hair. She flinched away, unused to a gentle touch.

He looked aggrieved, before he nodded, saying "today seems to be a day for old secrets. I will tell all. Elrond, my friend, I am sorry that this had to happen, and Alimra, I am sorry that I did not find you, but in truth, I did not know of your existence." he took a deep breath, before continuing, all eyes riveted upon him. "Thirty years ago, before I had met my wife, I was traveling to Caer Loera with a group of eldar under my care. After living for so long without company, I thought it time to retire to the forrest, after Isara's mother died. The group of elves included your daughter, Elrond, who was questioning whether she belonged in Caer Loera even then.. We were attacked, as you remember, by a party of orcs, some of the last to plague us before Haldir, the Marchwarden destroyed any in this sector. And I remember. She was frightened, and poisoned by an arrow that left a lingering sickness within her that her eldar blood could not fight. I believe the orcs had taken a poison from what remained of Isenguard, that had lingering effects upon even elves. Alimra, you say your mother was sick, it was this poison that I think may have been the origin."

Elrond shook his head. "I sensed something had changed about her, but I never thought…"

"Yes. the poison even then spread through her. And she knew it. She was distraught, and I came upon her in a glade of Imladris, one of the last nights our people were to spend there, and she told me she did not think she could go on. I held her, and what had started as innocent comfort became more. She asked me to show her love, even if it were for only a night. When I awoke the next morning, she had gone. I returned to Imladris, where I met you Elrond, reading a letter."

'Yes. I still have that letter. It told of her choice to become mortal, and live out her time amongst men. I thought she had found a love. After my first daughter left me, I had not the will to stay and watch another fade, so I retreated to Caer Loera. I see now that she did have a love." he turned to face Alimra. She looked back at him. Somewhere, during the course of Glorfindels confession, Erestor had left the room. "So you are my father?" she asked of the golden Lord who had been so caring and sympathetic towards her since her arrival, and then faced the dark haired lord who had healed her and cared for her. "and you are my grandfather?"

Elrond glanced at Glorfindel, who nodded. "It would seem so." Glorfindel reached to embrace her, and although she tensed, she allowed him to, his arms staying gentle. Her mamma had always taught her that family was those you should love, no matter what. She relaxed against him, and felt as though for once, a piece of her life had fallen in to the right place. Elrond smiled, despite his anger at Glorfindel. He had a grandchild. At long last after all these years of despairing that the twins would never settle down with just _one_ elleth, (preferably, _one_ each) let alone reproduce, and he had missed Arwens children's lives nearly altogether. And then he felt a pang of sadness for the childhood he had missed. Glorfindels eyes were flowing freely with tears as he held to him the daughter who he had never known, and who he had missed growing up. He wept for her mother, gentle Celebrían, and anew for the torment his daughter had had to suffer at the hands of men because he was not there to protect her. He loved his wife more than his very soul, but Celebrían would always hold a small piece of his heart. And when one of these tears fell upon her hand, she looked at it in wonder. For maybe , there really were some left in the world with a compassionate and genuinely caring heart. Who cared for her.

poor poor erestor! What happened to him? Why is he so sad? Why did he leave? Tune in next chapter for 'The Eldar and the Restless'lol.

**And ta for the reviews all.**

**Barbara Neal; Thankyou! That's so nice of you to say that, it really means a lot to me. I always worry a bit when I go playing with tradtion (hey, who needs the Grey Havens.lol.) so I wasn't sure how people would take the tory. So your review means a lot. Ta(longer chapter here!)**

**Ephona; thanks for your praise. It makes me want to get the next chapter up sooner. So here it is! Lol**

**Lady Anck-Su-Namun.; your wish is my command! New longer chapter! And no slash fest. As if.lol. poor Erestor. Must be sick of spending all his time with other men. Lol. I really appreciate your feedback, and ho you tell me what you like, and phrasing and so forth. It's very helpful, and very mch appreciated. **

**Let me know what you all think!**


	8. Turn to me

For the next few days, she fell in to a routine. Glorfindel would call by her rooms, and she would spend time with him father and his family…her family. Glorfindels mate, Celésang, welcomed her as though she were another daughter of her own, and his other daughter Isara and his sons Gardanial and Fiacha made her laugh. The first time she had laughed in many years. She was so content during these days, that she nearly forgot her gnawing desire to dance, and the pressure to let blood from her own veins eased. But always, there was a figure at the back of her mind. A whisper that haunted her every thought. One who had left the room upon Glorfindels confession, and had remained in the library, away from all during the last few days. And for some reason, she could not forget the look of such torment that had filled his eyes upon hearing Glorfindels words.

&(&

She went to the library that evening, to find him amongst the tomes. Neither reading, nor writing, simply staring in to space. He had neither eaten, nor slept for these days. And one thing was all he could think of. Celébrians face. He had watched her from afar for so long, until her mysterious disappearance threatened to render his heart from his very body. When he had heard she had chosen to live her life as mortal, his despair had been complete. And his heart had stopped beating. The appearance of her daughter, so alike her in many ways, had revived his frozen heart, but he no longer knew what to do. The door flew open, and then, the object of his thoughts entered the library, and sought him. He sighed, and struggled to speak. "Alimra, I wish not to be disturbed. Please leave."

She ignored him. "why are you here?. Why did you leave when Glorfindel began to speak of loving my mother?"

"You wouldn't understand." And with that, he got up and walked out of the room, leaving her staring after him, and he went to the glade where he had first seen her dance, and lit a low fire, and letting the flames cast shadows across his face, much like the shadows that flickered across his soul this night. She burst into the clearing, before she stalked angrily towards him. "Why do you not speak to me? I told you that which has so nearly ruined me. You said to trust you. And I have. But now, Erestor, it is your turn to trust me. Why are you so angry? Why do you ignore me now you know who my mother is." He looked away from her. And it suddenly occurred to her, as suddenly as it had to him all those years ago.

"You loved her too, didn't you?" she said quietly, afraid to look at him now, knowing what answer she would see within his eyes, her anger fading. He sighed.

"I thought I did. I thought that she might perhaps come to love me too. But she chose Glorfindel, and left. Taking my heart with her."

"You do not think that all this time has allowed it to start beating again?"

"I knew it to be the case until…"

"Until what?" she asked, pressing him.

"Until I saw you dance." He said quietly. She looked at the scars on her wrist. She had never broached this subject with any, finding it too painful to think or talk about, let alone dance. She looked back at him. "Then why still do you avoid me?"

"Because I have been hurt, and do not wish to be so again. I am unsure of my own heart, and I would not wish the pain I felt upon anyone."

She stood abruptly before him. "You are not the only one who was been hurt Erestor! When you saved me, I was near fading! I near killed myself so many times, I was sure that Mandos himself must know me. But I went on. You taught me, you, of all people, that I must go on. My torment I put aside, and moved on from, for those I love. Just like you taught me. Now will you do the same? What will it take for you to realise how necessary it is for you to listen to your own lessons Erestor? What will it take?"

He looked up at her, his tear worn face enough to make her heart leap, despite her annoyance at him. He swallowed nervously, before whispering huskily, softly,

"Dance for me? With me?" And then, despite her own terror, she never once hesitated. For her own hesitancy and fear at where her dancing would lead was shadowed by another's greater need. Erestor's. She looked into his eyes, her gaze never wavering, as she raised her arms slowly above her head, before spinning into his arms, and he flew her around the clearing in the flickering fire light, the shadows cast on his face making it seem haggard and tormented at first, until he too lost himself in the movement, and a look of pure rapture settled across his features, the rhythm settling in to his very bones . She swayed this way, away from him, then back, he pulled her body to his, swinging her high in the air, then back down again, pulling her to him, never letting her go. And when the song reached it's climax around them, both stopped moving, and stood staring at each other, before his lips came crashing down upon hers, and then both had what they wanted. The music wove a sensuous spell around them, unheard by all others but them, and their lips never leaving the others, and she realized then why she had feared the dance so much until now, why it had hurt and scared her. Because the dance was meant for two, and no one person could hope to carry it on their own.

**A/N thank for the reviews. Lady Anck su Naman, I love the depth you go into. Yu let me know what's working. Thanks. And that song…it must have been written for the story !lol. it just all fit. Well, I'll tell you something, I'm getting all the chapter names from the lyrics of another song by Disturbed: Prayer; (but I changed one of the lines for the title.)**

Another dream that will never come true

Just to complement your sorrow

Another life that I've taken from you

A gift to add to your pain and suffering

Another truth you can never believe

Has crippled you completely

All the cries you're beginning to hear

Trapped in your mind, and the sound is deafening

Let me enlighten you

This is the way I pray

Chorus

Living just isn't hard enough

Burn me alive inside

Living my life's not hard enough

Take everything away

Another nightmare about to come true

Will manifest tomorrow

Another love that I've taken from you

Lost in time, on the edge of suffering

Another taste of the evil I breed

Will level you completely

Bring to life everything that you fear

Live in the dark, and the world is threatening

Let me enlighten you

This is the way I pray

Chorus

Return to me

Return to me

Return to me

Turn to me

Leave me no one

Turn to me

Return to me

Return to me

Turn to me

Cast aside

Return to me

Return to me

Return to me

Turn to me

Leave me no one

Turn to me

Return to me

Return to me

**So there's sort of a pattern there.lol. but I wasn't going to turn it into a song fic. Anyway. Keep letting me know what you think. Although, I think your song fits the story better. It had the same sort of feeling I wanted for the tone of my piece.ta.**

**Crecy; ta for your input. I always enjoy it when you stick your head up.lol. enjoy. And hurry up and update Everybody's Fool! I love that story! Lol.**

**Barabra Neal; Thanks. i use to be a cutter , so i know what she's going through. keep letting me know what you think.**

**Because you've all given me such great reviews, I have felt the need to update incredibly quickly (despite the fact that I have exams happening.lol. so enjoy.**


	9. Burn Me a Light Inside

&(&8

She lay awake long after Erestor had fallen asleep beside her, the soft embers of the fire dying down beside them. Exhausted from their dance, they had collapsed by the fire, their limbs entwined. Erestor pulled her a little closer as he slept, afraid even whilst sleeping that she would leave him. She lay contemplating the flames, until she felt him stir beside her. He sat up, looking down at her. She turned to look up at him. He had a thoughtful expression upon his face, one that she couldn't fathom, when he reached for one of her wrists. The white network of scarring looked like a spider web in the dim light, and he traced his fingers over each line, as though committing them to memory. She tried to pull her wrist away, but he held onto it tightly.

"No." he murmured, as he continued to trace the lines, some thick, some barely visible, others pink, more silvery white.

"Why must you touch them?" she asked, again trying to pull her wrist away. Without her wrist cuffs, she felt near naked beneath his probing gaze. It took some getting use to. "They are my burden to bare now. I have told you of my past, and this is what remains for me to live with. The consequences of my choices, no one elses."

" No," he murmured again, before he lifted each wrist to his lips, and placed trails of kisses over each of the scars. "They only need to be bereft of their pain too, until they are naught but a reminder of how we were brought together."

She shivered at the feel of his lips. They had kissed but once, her fear of the passion of men making it difficult for her to even accept this without a flinch. She trusted Erestor, but old habits were hard to break. He continued to trail kisses over her inner wrists, until she stopped shivering in fear, and relaxed. Then he moved his lips steadily higher, placing kisses up her lower arm, over her forearm, across her shoulder, to her collar bone, where he stopped and laved a hot tongue across the bone. She shivered. He repeated the movement, and she closed her eyes, and shivered again. But this time, it was not in fear that her body shuddered, but in heat and satisfaction. He continued to move across her shoulders, scattering kisses and hot devastation across her. She stopped fearing for those few precious seconds, and held his head to her closer. He lifted his head, to lean in to place a hot kiss upon her parted lips. His tongue, desperate to taste her, slid in to her mouth, and for a second, he was not Erestor, but the man who had pursued her into the forrest. She cried out, and pulled away, but Erestor held her to him.

"Shhh," he murmured, before gently placing kisses across her forehead, down across her cheek, and then back to her lips, where he kissed her in the same manner again. He controlled his own need, decades of pent up longing and loneliness put on hold for her fear. He kissed her slowly, until her trembling stopped, and he gently began to move his hands across her body, as though they too were dancing. She quietened under the rhythmic movements of his hands, and placed her hands on his back, allowing her curiosity and desire to see more of him overtake her fear, as she began to trace the hard lines of his body too. It was she who started the kiss this time, and it was not the gentle warmth it had been before, but rather a hot reminder of the bond they had forged through music and dance that night. She pulled him to her tighter, and began to let go of her fear. There was nothing similar about the men who had raped her, and Erestor.

She felt her clothing slowly sliding from her body, and the softness and intensity of Erestor's gaze upon her was enough to set he trembling again. She watched as he slid off his own robes, before laying himself back a top of her. Her felt her trembling, and lay still, determined to place her need for comfort before his own desire. He continued to lightly stroke the unmarked skin of her face and then lower, lower until his hands covered her breasts, watching her all the while, his gaze searing through her like a brand. She arched into his touch, determined to let go of this fear, and begin to hold something else in place of her fear. Something else…like the slow feeling of warmth spreading through her, the desire, and the wetness forming between her thighs, in the one place she thought to never share with any male, man or otherwise again. His body sang to hers, as his hands traced every contour of her body, and she hesitantly began to do the same. He felt his control waver at the innocence in those caresses, the unsurety. She may have been had by countless men, but she was still an innocent. And it was slowly returning to her again, all the hands, all the lips, all the tongues that had defiled her, making her unworthy of the gentle lord above her.

He raised himself over her to enter her, and she whispered to him.

"I'm so afraid.", fear clouding her eyes

He nodded to her, gently caressing the side of her face as he made to leave her, determined to keep his own need under control if it would mean keeping her.

He moved to lay down beside her.

"But…."she held him fast. "please don't leave me. Tell me. Tell me what you are feeling, so I can block out my own fears with your words. "

"I can forget my emptiness within you," he whispered to her, as he gently moved to take her. "I can neither think nor act rationally around you. I want you to belong to me, and me alone. I can escape whatever demons my past held, and whatever lines that beg me to cross. I would trade everything for you." She felt him begin to move within her, and she felt her fear being chased away by a warmth that coursed through her, and coated her to the very marrow of her bones, and she began to shake, but not in fear, but in rapture as the feeling grew and grew within her. She could see, through her pleasure filled haze, the control Erestor was exerting in order not to lose himself within her. Sweat dotted his forehead, and his every thrust was controlled and slow. When she let herself surrender to her climax, she leant up to him, "Let go," she whispered to him, "It's alright now" His control waning at the feel of her tightening around him in her climax, her hot words were enough to let what little control he had left snap, and he thrust in to her, again and again, until his own release began to clench his whole body in it's rapture. "Take me," she moaned to him, arching beneath him, feeling his hot seed released deep within her, and she felt him slow his movements, somewhere at the back of her mind, she registered that he had collapsed atop of her, as exhausted as she was in the wake of such powerful sensations. And she knew truly then, what it meant to dance.

A/N; Thank you all who reviewd, but don't worry, **it's not over yet**! Barbara Neal, it's getting lighter. Now there is hope.

If any of you have read any of my other stories, let me know if you would like to hear anymore from those couplelings. I'm going to finish this story, then write some ficlets I think. But I'd like your opinions. What or who would you like to hear about? Open for suggestions.

Oh Yeah. And what do you think of this chapter?lol/

Next chapter will be considerably lighter after the rest o the story.


	10. Will Level You Completely EPILOGUE

**AN: I just read the reviews from the last two chapters. **

**Lady Anck-sa-naman, thankyou so much for all your feedback and support through out this story, and all my other stories too. your in depth feedback always gives me a clear idea of what i'm doing well and what not so well, so thank you so much.**

**Crecy; Thanks for all your random insights, and i really hope to see some chapter of a few certain stories cough Everybody's foolcough up soon.**

**And to Barbara neal and anyone else who reviewed. Thanks again, and i really hope you enjoyed this.**

**Now after the darkness, i've reverted back to some of my original humour...enjoy.**

Epilogue; 8 months later.

She leant back against Erestor, content to let him support her. Her back ached, but it was a different kind of pain to what she had become accustomed to. It brought her hope, as she felt the life stirring in her womb. She sighed, content. Erestors hand rested upon her swollen stomach, gently stroking the growing new existence. He felt her relax against him, and smiled. Elrond and Glorfindel came by the suite of rooms the two shared every day, to check on the expectant parents to be, and to talk to the unborn child that continued to grow with each passing week. Glorfindel, however, upon being called 'Grand-adar' by Elrond, quickly retaliated with 'Great grand-adar', which was the start of a playful rivalry between the two, both insisting that the child, (which was sure to be a boy!) would be named after them.

"Elrondinion, a fine strong name for the boy." Insisted Elrond one night, after Erestor and Alimra had left, leaving him and Glorfindel to stew over wine.

"Glorfindaniel" insisted Glorfindel, who by now was well into their sixteenth bottle of wine. As the night went on, the suggestions had gotten more and more ridiculous, upon the decision that they should combine their names to create one for the child.

"Elrondel"

"Glorfinrond."

"Glelrofel"

"Finrondglor"

Celésang, Glorfindels wife, came in to find the two drunken elf lords slumped in their chairs.

"Have either of you considered the possibility that the child will be a girl?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest, scowling at the two.

The two Lords just laughed. "No, woman," Glorfindel slurred. " It shall be a son, a fine strong boy, to be called FINDELROND!"

Celésang had enough. "Right. You, Lord Elrond should be going to bed. Fiacha, would you help Lord Elrond to his room please, as he seems to be too inebriated to stand, let alone walk?"

Glorfindel and Celésang's second son Fiacha entered the room, and fighting a smile, helped the swaying elf Lord out of the room. Despite being well used to this kind of behaviour from the two, it still escaped her how two of the most righteous and dignified elves in all Middle Earth could get so juvenile. Celésang turned to her husband, who was looking up at her with a silly grin on his face. "Ai, meleth, if you could see yourself from this angle, you would be so aroused you'd take me right now!'

She turned to face her husband. "And you Glorfindel! Carrying on as though you were an elfing! Get to bed now! And you can forget about any loving for the next week at this rate...Glorfindel! Get off the floor! Stop begging. Get to bed! What are you going to do? Glorfindel...Take your hands off of me you brute!...Stop that...Oh you...you, Oh, oh...Oh Valar...keep going..."

Erestor and Alimra had returned to their rooms, and her being exhausted, had curled up upon their bed, content. Erestor pulled Alimra a little closer, when he felt a ripple run through her abdomen. Alimra gave a small gasp, tensing against her husband. "Erestor?" she whispered, now wide awake, "I think our child is coming."

Four hours later, Elrond and Glorfindel, who all had narrowly avoided headaches from their excess wine consumption, looked in wonder at the small child in Erestors arms. Erestor tenderly held the child close, as though the slightest touch would break her.

"An elleth?" asked Glorfindel, confused.

"Alright. We'll name her Glorfindel!' said Elrond, an enchanted grin on his face as he reached out to touch the sleeping elleths tiny hand. Glorfindel glared at Elrond, before reaching out to touch the other. Then she opened her eyes, the same violet as her mothers, and all three fell hopelessly in love with her.

"Erestor?" a quiet voice, tired but triumphant, called from the bed behind them. 'Where is our daughter?" Erestor brought the tiny elleth over to her mother, and gently handed her to her.

"She's so beautiful,' she whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, before looking up at her husband in wonder.

"Yes," he whispered back huskily, his voice choked by emotion. "just like her mother."

Despite the cry of "Erestor, your a scholar for Valar-sake! Couldn't you have come up with something more original?" that could be heard, which sounded suspiciously like Glorfindel, Alimra smiled, before leaning up to receive the tender kiss that Erestor leant down to bestow upon her.

'What is her name?" Elrond asked the joyful family.

It was at that moment Elladan and Elrohir burst in to the room, slightly tipsy after toasting their new great nieces health five times.

"Ellaro!" slurred Elladan.

"Elroadahir!" slurred Elrohir, before both came to stand by the bed.

"He's a girl!" they cried in unison.

From there, life grew ever sweeter for the new family. Despite the shadows that occasionally crossed her face, Alimra had regained the glow of the eldar, and was the happiest she had ever been in her short life. Erestor saw these shadows at times, and knew her to be thinking of her past, but one smile from their daughter or one kiss and any darkness vanished altogether. She was their hope, their light, and brought them both great joy. Erestor walked quietly into the room where she slept, and drew his wife back against him, who stood watching the sleeping child.

"She is fair," he whispered, kissing the back of his wife's neck, stroking the white hair over her shoulder.

"Just like her father," Alimra teased, having found a wicked sense of humour in the months that had passed. A smile spread across Erestor's face, as he pulled his wife from the room.

"Come then," he whispered sensually to her, pulling her into their room. "I am a lot fairer with my clothing off."

And as the two reaffirmed their love, the little elleth slept on, blissfully unaware of any shadows, as her parents had so filled her life with light.

And they had finally decided upon a name for their little child. Laaysa, meaning; dancer.

**A/N; AND with that, it's finished. Shorter than my other stories, but still good i hope. What do you think?and who/what would you like to hear from next?**

And to all you reader who are just finding my stories, even though they have been posted for ages, feel free to review too, as i really love to hear what you think. I hope to hear from you!


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